Sure, Heliod is very durable. It's hard to counter (creature on the stack to avoid Negate), then an indestructible non creature when on the board. It's damn hard to get rid of. But, the Ballista half itself is quite fragile. If Ballista comes down first, it still has to come down for 2, making it a 4 mana 2/2 with no protection, where the opponent will then need to cast Heliod, and have 2 up to activate, and at least 1 up for protection, in order to go infinite. Or if Ballista comes down second, it costs 4, then 2 up to activate, then 1 up for protection. To get around all of that, Ballista needs to come down at 3.pierreb wrote: ↑4 years ago(First off, obv, Heliod being an indestructible enchantment is almost impervious to cards normally played.)
Ballista survives most removal played in moderm when...Just saying it's not all that clear that the combo is fragile.
- You have spellskite in play.
- You have leonin abunas in play.
- You have welding jar in play.
- you have giver of runes in play.
It's far easier to interact with than say, Twin. You mention protection cards that can come down ahead of time but those cards are also vulnerable to removal. For example, Force of Vigor gets around Spellskite, and Giver of Runes can be dealt with. Path to Exile and Lightning Helix for example are both excellent ways to stop Giver from doing anything with Ballista. That's before you even get into cards like Karn and Ouphe which also stop the combo.